Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan, original name Temujin (c. 1167-1227), Mongol conqueror, whose nomad armies created a vast empire under his control, from China to Russia. He was born near Lake Baikal in Russia, the son of Yesukai, a Mongol chief and ruler of a large region between the Amur River and the Great Wall of China. At the age of 13, Temujin succeeded his father as tribal chief. His early reign was marked by successive revolts of his subjects and an intense struggle to retain his leadership, but the Mongol ruler soon demonstrated his military genius and conquered not only his intractable subjects but his hostile neighbours as well, ruthlessly massacring all actual or potential opponents. By 1206 Temujin was master of almost all of Mongolia. In that year, a convocation of the subjugated peoples proclaimed him Genghis Khan (Chinese zhengsi, “precious warrior”; Turkish khān, “lord”), leader of the united Mongol and Tatar; the city of Karakorum was designated his capital.

The khan then began his conquest of China, reportedly seeking to pasture his horses on the fertile Chinese fields. By 1208 he had established a foothold inside the Great Wall, and in 1213 he led his armies south and west into the area dominated by the Jurchen Jin (or Chin) dynasty, not stopping until he reached the Shandong Peninsula. In 1215 his armies captured Yanjing (now Beijing), the last Jin stronghold in northern China, and in 1218 the Korean Peninsula fell to the Mongols.

In 1219, in retaliation for the murder of some Mongol traders, Genghis Khan turned his armies westward, invading Khoresm, a vast Turkish empire that included modern Iraq, Iran, and part of Western Turkistan. Looting and massacring, the Mongols swept through Turkistan and sacked the cities of Bukhara and Samarqand, inaugurating the Mongol reputation for appalling ferocity. In what are now northern India and Pakistan, the invaders conquered the cities of Peshawar and Lahore and the surrounding countryside. Muslim advisers apparently taught Genghis the value of towns as sources of wealth at about this time. In 1222 the Mongols marched into Russia and plundered the region between the Volga and Dnepr rivers and from the Persian Gulf almost to the Arctic Ocean.

The greatness of the khan as a military leader was borne out not only by his conquests but by the excellent organization, discipline, and manoeuverability of his armies. Moreover, the Mongol ruler was an admirable statesman; his empire was so well organized that, so it was claimed, travellers could go from one end of his domain to the other without fear or danger. But he showed completely unrestrained savagery towards his rivals and enemies, and used massacre as a routine weapon of conquest. At his death, on August 18, 1227, the Mongol Empire was divided among his three sons. Four of his grandsons, Kublai, Mangu, Batu, and Hulagu, became great Mongol leaders in their own right. Genghis Khan's invasions were of great historical importance long after his death, for the Turks, who fled before him, were driven to their own invasion of Europe.